Report :

In the beginning I would like to thank FNF for the training and seminars they conduct to foster the youth interested in public matters and provide them with new and useful experience, which is both socially and culturally positive for all trainees.

The seminar held 7-19 March 2010 titled “Liberalism and Religiosity” that addressed several issues including the relationship between religion and the state, and religion and freedoms, was very fruitful for both the participants and the facilitators alike. In fact, a seminar with 20 different participants from various political, religious, and cultural backgrounds is very profitable. The diversity of the participants enriched the meeting and the exchange amongst them.

This seminar was very special: in the beginning the issue was clearly complex, and most of the participants were on their guard due to the sensitivity of the topic. Nonetheless, as the seminar developed and people participated, and with the interventions and discussions, it became clear that the most complex problems are being resolved through dialogue and knowledge of the “other” thoroughly and in detail.

The interesting addition made by the seminar were the visit made to the Bavarian Parliament in Munich and the tour in some of the old churches in town, the visit to the Bonn municipality, and the visits made to other places connected to the topic of the seminar. Thus, this first-hand experience of reality was very beneficial to all participants, given the following discussions of the reality. The success could also be due to two major factors, i.e. the skill and smartness of the facilitators, the active and fine Gulmina Bilal, and the calmly experienced Stefan Melnik, on the one hand, and the flexibility of the participants who accommodated one another in a tolerant liberal manner. Therefore, the real fruit of the seminar is the revival of hope in solving the most complex problems through open discussion and dialogue. We also realized that liberalism gathers all the different people, while the freedoms and rights of others are preserved through its rules and principles. Liberalism sheds tolerance and peace on its surroundings; there was no instance of transgression from one participant over the other, due to the commitment of all to liberalism and its rules.  

We realized that all around the world we are able to communicate and discuss, and that through tolerance and the belief in the freedom of though and belief established by liberalism, violence can be relinquished and peace can be settled in all parts of the world, due to the fundamental belief in the human being and her/his rights and freedoms.

Finally, I would like to thank all the participant trainees and the organizers of this excellent seminar. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to FNF for allowing me this opportunity to be introduced and engaged in discussions with other diverse cultures.